


Under the Weather

by pawnofkings



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: But they try, Caretaking, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Sickfic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, andrew and aaron care, soft, they're just gremlins who struggle with that sort of stuff, very much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:35:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26161240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pawnofkings/pseuds/pawnofkings
Summary: Nicky gets sick. To his surprise, the twins are there to take care of him.
Relationships: In the background, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Nicky Hemmick & Aaron Minyard, Nicky Hemmick & Andrew Minyard, Nicky Hemmick & Neil Josten
Comments: 8
Kudos: 227





	Under the Weather

**Author's Note:**

> @monstersanonymous on tumblr made the post "Someone write the fic of Nicky getting sick and Aaron and Andrew trying to take care of him in their own little ways pls i need it" and thus... this. Hope you like it! (Feel free to message me on tumblr @ plaidfurby if you have any questions, concerns, or comments! And you can send me prompts for very short, drabble-style ficlets (like 200-500 words) on there as well. I won't necessarily do all of them if I get any because I start a new course on Monday and might get busy, but I'll try!

Nicky rarely gets sick. It’s something he considers himself lucky to be able to say, seeing how unforgiving most of his former employers tended to be with that sort of thing; and yeah, Nicky gets it, businesses depend on their employees to keep things running and it’s a hassle to try to navigate the shift adjustments, but what’s he supposed to do? Somehow, he doubts simply apologising for passing out at a customer's table would help.

His ‘employer’ is much kinder, nowadays. Nicky texts Coach Wymack almost immediately after he wakes up, letting him know that he won’t make it today - a 103 degree fever and endless shivers are nothing to sneeze at (though Nicky does) - and all Wymack responds with is ‘rest up, kid. Try to drink some tea’ and Nicky sort of absentmindedly wonders if this is what it’s like to have good parents.

He isn’t first up, but he’s up before Kevin. The loft bed on the other side of the room was empty - both bunks - when Nicky woke up, so the disaster duo is likely to be on the roof, where only God knows what they get up to. (Nicky stopped vocalizing his theories when Andrew stabbed the kitchen table during breakfast several months ago - the mark is still there, forever marring the beautiful oak.)

Kevin still hasn’t woken up when the front door opens and the aforementioned duo steps inside, noses and ears nipped pink from the winter chill. Nicky has made his way to the kitchen and is sure he looks piteous, half-leaned over, wearing a blanket like a cape, cup of tea clutched in his hands. He certainly feels it.

Andrew casts him a brief glance and turns away. Then freezes, and slowly turns back around. “What’s wrong with you?” he asks, with all the tact that he cares to have (which is to say: none). 

“I’m sick”, Nicky explains. _Clearly_. “I’m not coming to practice today.”

Neil gives him a concerned look. “What kind of sick?”

“Ah, nothing major”, Nicky says, waving a hand dismissively. “Running a fever, shivers. I have a headache but I think it’s dehydration - if I rest today I might be fine by tomorrow.”

Andrew is still looking at him. Nicky can’t read him very well, so he has no idea what he’s thinking, but it must be something to warrant that long-lasting of a look. Eventually, he says, “I’m making breakfast. Lie down.” That’s it. But it’s… A lot, still, really. So Nicky does.

He gets comfortable on the couch, burrowing into his blanket and trying to get comfortable. Neil leaves the bedroom fully dressed with pillows and blankets in his hands that he offers to Nicky. “Aww, you’re so sweet. Thank you.” Neil shrugs it off, but the tips of his ears go slightly red and Nicky decides it’s really cute. He’d spend some more time looking if his eyes weren’t weirdly warm and all he wants is to close them, so he does.

When Andrew hands him a bowl of oatmeal, complete with three types of berries and a sprinkle of sugar, Nicky tries to thank him, which he sneers at (but Nicky can’t see the usual irritation or anger in it, so he imagines it’s just what he thinks he should do). Since he won’t accept that response, Nicky just nods gratefully when he also fills a decanter with lemon water and leaves it and a glass beside the couch, glaring at Nicky as if daring him to say something.

When the others leave for practice, Nicky spends some time staring at that decanter, tracing the edges with a fingertip, feeling very, very warm.

***

He must’ve fallen asleep at some point, because the front door opening wakes him up. He’s sweating and his head is pounding more intensely than it was before, so he can’t help the groan that escapes his lips. His throat feels like he’s swallowed sand, and he reaches a hand down to fumble for the water.

“I told you to drink that”, Andrew says.

“You told me nothing”, Nicky rasps out in response. He furrows his brows when Aaron kneels down next to him to pour a glass of water but receives it gratefully. “What’re you doing here? Not that I’m not glad for the company. And…” He looks around, but the twins are the only people in the room. “... the others?”

“Practice didn’t end yet”, Aaron mumbles, getting to his feet. “You need food.”

Andrew walks wordlessly into the kitchen.

The whole thing is really very confusing. “Wait, it’s Wednesday - you have a session with Bee?” Nicky struggles into a sitting position, leaning heavily against the armrest. 

“We cancelled it”, Aaron explains. “You need to get out of the blankets for a while, so we can get your natural temperature. It’ll show higher if you don’t.”

Apparently, no more answers are forthcoming, so Nicky hooks onto that line of questioning while Aaron helps unearth him from his mound of blankets. “Why?” The cold (actually room-temperature) air feels nice against his skin for all of two seconds before he starts shivering uncontrollably. 

Aaron shrugs, looking uncomfortable. “Andrew told me you’re sick.”

_And that’s all it took?_

That’s apparently the extent to which Aaron feels like explaining things, because he mutters about the thermometer before running off into the bathroom. Nicky listens to the sounds of Aaron looking for the thermometer, struggling to distinguish them from the clanking going on in the kitchen, and he is very, very confused about the whole thing.

“Can I, uh, get my phone?” he asks feebly. 

Expected responses: “Go get it yourself” (Andrew); “Go get it yourself” (Aaron).

Actual response: “Give me a second”, Andrew says.

Nicky stares.

And then he _does_ go get his phone for him, but he doesn’t look him in the eye when he hands it over. And then he goes back to the kitchen, quickly replaced by Aaron with a thermometer in hand that he makes Nicky hold in his mouth for an awkward amount of time before it beeps. “103”, he notes.

“Same as before, then”, Nicky comments and leans back into the pillows. 

“Have more water”, Aaron tells him, and goes to get seated on a beanbag. So he does, and ten minutes later, Andrew hands him a bottle of soup, still steaming, and a spoon.

“Thank you”, Nicky tries again, and Andrew just grunts and goes to get seated by the window. He still feels that strange warmth. He thinks he might cry, but tries not to. He can’t imagine the twins would know how to deal with that. One time Neil was on the verge of a panic attack and Andrew told him to ‘stop it’.

By the time the others arrive back from practice, Nicky has finished the soup and is lying contentedly in his blanket fort, barely shivering anymore but still running a fever. Kevin, apparently, has bought him something to deal with the sickness: one of those health drinks he’s always chugging down, but with ginger and lemon and honey. Neil refills his decanter.

_Since when are the people in this dorm so nice?_

***

That night, Aaron goes back to his and Katelyn’s place and Andrew retreats back to the bedroom. Kevin is, as he often is, watching an exy game on his laptop, headphones pulled over his ears. Nicky’s temperature has dropped by several points over the course of the afternoon and evening, so he doesn’t think he’ll have to spend another day in this textile pile, but he decides to stay in it for a little while longer. Getting up seems too exhausting after a day of immobility.

Only he and Neil remain in the living room. Neil, lying on his stomach on a beanbag, legs stretched out on the floor (how can that be comfortable? Nicky has no idea) is studying for one test or other, and Nicky watches him for a while. Eventually, he notices and looks up.

“Something on your mind?”

Nicky shrugs.

“Andrew was worried about you during practice, you know. He’s hard to read, but he was.” And if anyone can read Andrew, it’s one Neil Josten, so Nicky has to trust his word on the matter, but it feels kind of difficult.

“I didn’t… They gave me _soup_. And took my temperature. And got my phone for me when I asked?”

Neil’s smile is amused. “Real signs of love.”

“I mean yeah, in their case, it’s like… I didn’t… I.”

He must be looking piteous again. Neil seems to think so. “They care about you, you realize that, right?”

Nicky raises one shoulder, pursing his lips.

“Nicky”, Neil says and sits up. “You’re like an older brother to them. You saved them from a really bad situation and they realize that. Of course they’re going to take care of you when you need it.”

Nicky laughs, but he thinks it sounds distraught. “Then why does Andrew keep pointing knives at me?”

“He does that to everyone.”

“He threatens to kill me every single day.”

“I’d say join the club, but I think you joined it before I did”, Neil says wryly. “Nicky, not a day goes by where I don’t get told he’ll push me off the roof.”

Well… Andrew really does care about Neil, that much is obvious. And if he does it to Neil, too…? Nicky is struggling with this

Neil’s voice gets uncharacteristically soft. “Andrew sent four guys to the hospital for you. Don’t think Aaron wouldn’t at least try to do the same. They’d kill before they let anything happen to you.”

When it comes to those two, that really isn’t an exaggeration. Somehow, Nicky can’t help but smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Nicky, or at least the Nicky I usually write, reminds me of Jin from BTS. He's just a bit older than the twins, but he takes on the responsibility of caring for them anyway, and is a great 'older brother' to them. And the twins love him back, just like BTS love Jin. This will make no sense if you're not ARMY, but hey, that's ok. Hope you enjoyed the fic.


End file.
